Day 2: Angkor Temples Heaven

Note: This is a map of the Siem Reap town and map of Angkor temples area for easier reference of the places I'm talking about.

We woke up at 2.15am... because LF my travel partner set the wrong time on our alarm. HAHAHAHA! Thank god I noticed and we went back to sleep until 4.15am. Our tuk-tuk driver, Vicheka was already waiting for us at 5am at the entrance.

I still can't believe we still took him as our tuk-tuk driver when he left us at Dead Fish Tower the previous day!

Anyway, 5.30pm sharp, we were in the outer gate of Angkor Wat. We took our own sweet time walking from the outer gate and then only realized that we were running out of time. We didn't what to catch the silhouette of Angkor Wat at sunrise, we wanted the real thing. Everyone will be at the inner wall area, sunrise there wouldn't be nice.


We took a quick walk to the end and top of Angkor Wat with the help of two local children and an old man. The kids and man knew we wanted to see the sunrise and lead us all the way to the middle of the temple, passing the swimming pool, up the super steep stairs into the center. We headed to the North of the temple (East on map), and then took the South West steps up (North West on map). The man then lead up to the middle tower, the largest and tallest tower of Angkor Wat. At every angle of the tower is a Buddha statue. He lit a joss tick for both of us, so we prayed.

It seemed silly, but I felt a moment of calmness in me at that time. My adrenalin was pumping after all that rushing and climbing.. and I think that adrenalin pushed me to climb quicker without the fear of falling off the steps.


After the short prayer (donate la ok, there will be a small bowl for donations at every prayer statue), we head North of Angkor Wat (East on map) and picked our locations to wait for the sun.


Waiting.. and still waiting... until I gave up. The sky was already bright. We missed the sun. There were too much thick clouds that day =(


We hung around the towers with the local children and enjoyed their bas-reliefs on the walls.


One of the 5 towers.


Apsara dancers... all are unique. Not one dancer is the same. All have different costumes, accessories, styles... and smiles.


Inner wall before reaching to the temple steps to reach the tower area.


The North West tower. North East on map.


Corridor and steps to the central tower.


View from the top to the entrance of Angkor Wat (west on map). That yellow thing is a hot air balloon.


The bas-reliefs on one of the walls.


We left Angkor Wat and headed to the South gate of Angkor Thom. You will see soldiers pulling a Naga (five headed serpent). The ones at the North Gate are all missing heads! Thieves... A lot of Buddha head were also missing in Angkor Wat actually. Some bas-reliefs and Apsara dancers are hacked out from the stone walls.

Before you read on, load this map to guide you to what location and temple I’m talking about.

Vicheka brought us to the Bayon area for breakfast. ARGHHHHHHH!


Bayon, the 4D face temple. Faces here, faces there. No wonder one of my colleague’s husband got a Bayon nightmare after visiting the temple.


Such a happy face with a good nose.


Baphuon was under restoration, so we didn't get to the full feel of it.


From Baphoun to Phimeanakas through the Royal palace walls.


Phimeanakas and the Royal Palace


You will have to walk quite deep in to reach Preah Palilay but its very worth the visit. This is my favorite temple of all. Covered by trees, very shady place. Calm, smooth, relaxing. I wish I could camp there.


At Tep Pranam, there were many local people praying. The day I visited the Angkor Temples was their Pchum Ben festival, aka Festival of the Dead. Man and woman will cook food and bring to the temples and offer them to the monk. The monk will then bless them and pray to their ancestors. This is something like our Chinese "Ching Ming" where were give respect and pray to our ancestors.


On the whole street, there were many ladies clad in white lace tops and Cambodian silk sarongs. All were holding a food carrier. I later got to know from a local that the lace tops are not sold. They have to be tailored. The lace can cost up to USD50 and tailoring can cost up to USD20. One expensive piece of top.


At the Leper King Terrace, we saw a few Cambodians giving offerings to the Leper King statue ....with a nice red roasted pig. I see the chopper too!


The detailed reliefs of the Leper King Terrace.


Elephant Terrace


We exit the Angkor Thom area using the Victory Gate and headed to Thommanom and Chau Say Thevoda. Both are small temples but I really like Thommanom. That temple gave me a relaxing feeling. Put me in a good mood. (Which was good for the two girls that came to me asking me to buy something from them. Beaded accessories 6 for USD1. Good bargain I think). I don't have a picture of Chau Say Thevoda, the temple was under restoration so I think I forgot to snap.


Next stop was Ta Keo. LF didn't dare to climb so I didn't too. =( I wish I had.


I didn't really enjoy my visit to Ta Prohm. There were too much tourist in the temple. Over crowded and noise. Ta Prohm did have many nice relief though. And a lot lots of tree roots. Some of their tree trunks are different too. White like a white elephant. The trees were alive but with no bark.


Banteay Kdei was totally different compared to Ta Prohm. I loved the length of the temple. Very run down temple, everything fell apart. Not much relief admire but we had a lot of ...


Apsara dancers! HAHAHAHAHA!


The weather was getting bad when we went opposite to Sras Srang. It was drizzling on and off.... not much of a view with no hot sun.

We moved on back to Angkor Wat to have lunch. We did not listen to our tuk-tuk this time and I was glad we didn't! Food at the food stalls in front of Angkor Wat was superb!

We took a longer lunch because it started to pour. We only manage to head into Angkor about 2.30pm. LF was jaded, her feet hurt, but I was pumped. I took her up until the inner walls and we hung out and soaked in the atmosphere at the swimming pool area for a while. So peaceful, so windy, so relaxing. We later continued to explore the inner walls and the lower part of the Wat.


I got really excited when we came to the East gallery, South section. Churning the sea of milk. This is my favorite myth out of all that is reliefed in the Wat.

Vishnu, the Protector god came to earth as Kurma, a turtle, to support the churning the sea of milk from under, preventing the Mount Mandara from sinking. The is done by puling the giant Naga Vasuki which is coiled around Mount Mandara. The other figure you see on top is the flying Indra that helps to steady the mountains and hills that were shaking due to the churning. Kind of like stopping earth quakes to happen. The middle is a four armed Vishnu who directs the churning operations.

1000 years of churning produced "amrita", the elixir of immortality. The churning is actually a co-operative effort between the Asuras and gods. But when this "amrita" started producing, the Asuras tried to steal them.

The churning also created creatures like the elephant Airavata and horse Ucchaissrarvas. And not forgetting the Apsara dancers. Did you know what the Apsara dancers are actually flying creatures? Now you know :P


The effects of the churning. Sea creatures are all twirled, broken, snapped, sliced... dead.


The giant Hanuman at the god's tail end, helping the other 88 gods.

Anyway, I can go on and on about the myth and how the battle and victory over the Asuras went but I'll save that for myself and not bore you. If you are interested to know more, come to me, and let me tell you the tales of the great Angkor. FYI, if you are not enthusiastic about all this like me, it’s a better idea to hire a guide to explain all the stories and myth to you. USD20 a day is ok if you have a bunch to share cost with.

Wait one last picture, me and LF hunted high and low for her.

Can you see her teeth? She's the single Apsara showing the teeth.

We left Angkor Wat 4.30pm, wanted to head to Phnom Bakheng for the sunset but the clouds were everywhere. LF didn't want to climb Phnom Bakheng too, so... nvm lo. Mr.tuk-tuk Vicheka took us back... yeah right. He didn't get any commision for lunch so he decided to try his luck by dropping us off at another over priced shopping market.


Looks pretty.

We called it an early day. USD12 for Vicheka. We bought the USD0.55 Angkor beer back to the room and ate some food we took away from the Angkor Temple area, and drank coffee. ...that kept us awake and chatting up until 3am. *yawnnn*

Nope, I didn’t dream that I was dancing in the hall of dancers with the Apsaras’ I only wish I was flying with them.